The line-up is changing at CIPRA International: executive director Claire Simon will be handing over the reins to her deputy Andreas Pichler as of 1 August 2016. Claire Simon, 38, made her mark on CIPRA during her twelve years at the helm and among other things strove to open up the organisation to coming generations. Under her leadership CIPRA not only succeeded in making its presence felt on the stage of international Alpine policy, but also initiated changes and worked towards innovative approaches in the development of processes.
Her successor Andreas Pichler, who has been working since November at the organisation’s head office in Schaan, Liechtenstein, brings with him a passionate interest in the sustainable development of the Alps, as well as his experience gained as the former director of the South Tyrol Eco-Institute, his professional expertise and a wide-ranging network of contacts.

CIPRA Austria too has a new leader, with Hemma Burger-Scheidlin being succeeded at the top by ecologist Josef Essl, 48. He has since 2013 been head of CIPRA Austria’s Alpine Convention office in Innsbruck. There is also a change in the presidency of CIPRA Switzerland: current president Reto Solèr is stepping down in favour of Patrik Schönenberger, an agrarian ecologist who lives in the canton of Freiburg, where he teaches at the Changins college of further education and runs a consultancy firm specialising in ecological winegrowing.

www.cipra.org/en/media-releases/tracking-change-with-cipra